1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the maintenance of aircraft and other vehicles and managing the configuration of parts of an aircraft. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method of using automated identification technology tags and a data processing system onboard an aircraft or other vehicle to manage the maintenance of parts of the aircraft or other vehicle.
2. Background
A vehicle may comprise many component parts. For example, a commercial passenger aircraft may comprise thousands of individually identified parts. The many parts of an aircraft comprise the configuration of the aircraft.
An operator of an aircraft, such as an airline or other operator of the aircraft, may desire to know the current configuration of the aircraft. For example, government regulations may require that the current configuration of a commercial passenger aircraft is known by the airline operating the aircraft. An airline or other operator of an aircraft may maintain configuration information that identifies the current configuration of the aircraft. For example, the configuration information may include parts information that identifies the many parts that currently comprise the aircraft. It is desirable that the configuration information is updated accurately and in a timely manner in response to changes in the parts comprising the aircraft, so that the configuration information accurately identifies the current configuration of the aircraft.
Aircraft may be maintained on a regular basis to ensure safe and efficient operation. Aircraft maintenance may include performing various maintenance operations on the various parts of the aircraft. Inspection of parts, reworking of parts, and replacement of parts are examples of maintenance operations that may be performed on the various parts of an aircraft. It is desirable that the configuration information maintained by an airline or other aircraft operator is changed as needed to reflect any changes in the aircraft configuration that may result from performing maintenance operations on the parts of the aircraft.
It may be desirable that an airline or other operator of an aircraft maintains parts information related to the maintenance of the parts of the aircraft. For example, it may be desirable that the parts information includes information identifying various characteristics of the parts of the aircraft that may be useful for maintaining the various parts of the aircraft. It also may be desirable that such parts information is available for use by maintenance personnel and others when needed or desired for performing maintenance operations on the parts of the aircraft or for other purposes.
It may be desirable that parts information for the parts of an aircraft includes maintenance history information identifying maintenance operations that have been performed on the parts. Such maintenance history information may be useful for maintaining the aircraft parts and other purposes. For example, without limitation, maintenance personnel may use such maintenance history information to determine whether a maintenance operation has already been performed on an aircraft part, the nature and extent of any maintenance operations that may have already been performed on the part, when further maintenance of a part is required or desired, what further maintenance may be required or desired to be performed on an aircraft part, or for any other appropriate purpose or combination of purposes related to maintaining an aircraft part. Maintenance history information for the parts on an aircraft also may provide a record of compliance with required or desired aircraft maintenance schedules. In any case, it is desirable that the maintenance history information for the parts of an aircraft is updated accurately and in a timely manner after maintenance operations are performed on the parts.
Automated identification technology tags may be used to automatically identify objects, collect data about the objects, and enter that data directly into a computer system with little or no human involvement. Examples of automated identification technology tags may include radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and contact memory buttons. Automated identification technology tags may be attached to various objects. Information identifying the objects and various characteristics of the objects may be stored in the tags. This information may be read from the tags and automatically entered into a computer system for processing using an appropriate reader device. Such automated identification technology has not been fully utilized for the maintenance of aircraft.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that take into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.